Thousands of enthusiastic members and sympathisers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Saturday thronged the Jubilee Park in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, for the launch of the party’s campaign for the 2024 general election.
Branded in NDC colours, the Jubilee Park beamed with myriads of activities ahead of the arrival of the flagbearer of the party and former President, John Dramani Mahama, and his entourage.
Visible in and around the park were portraits of parliamentary candidates from the region and the flagbearer as street lights, cars, trees and motorcycles were all draped in the black, red, white and green colours of the party.
Some other interest groups in the party like Ladies for JM, Okada Riders for JM, Youth for JM, First-Time Voters for JM, Concerned Drivers for JM, amongst others also came out in their numbers to announce their presence at the grand launch.
They displayed placards like ‘Visionary JM’, ‘24-Hour Economy is coming’, ‘JM the King of Infrastructure’, ‘My Vote is for JM’, ‘JM the experienced driver’, ‘NDC the party of choice’, ‘Enough if the elephant’s destruction’, ‘The Ghana cedi has fallen flat’ amongst others.
The enthusiasm and readiness of the party people for the task ahead were manifested on Friday night when young men and women stayed awake with the party’s advance team who were on the ground to ensure everything was ready for a flawless campaign take-off.
At about 9:am Saturday, the bigwigs of the party including Professor Joshua Alabi, Head of the campaign team of the flagbearer, Richard Quashigah, Deputy Campaign Coordinator in-charge of Parliamentary Campaigns, Alex Segbefia, Head of Running Mate Campaign were on the ground to ensure everything was in order.
Others, Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe, Second Deputy Minority Whip and MP for Ada, Prosper Bani, a former Chief of Staff, Mustapha Gbande, Deputy General Secretary, former Ministers of State, Members of Parliament amongst others were all on the ground to take care of the arrangements ahead of time.
Attracting party people from across the five regions of the north and beyond, the launch on the theme, ‘Change to reset Ghana’, also served as a get-together for many people who had chit-chats in small groups as the campaign tunes blared from the public announcing systems erected in and around the park.
Side attractions to the grand occasion included jama sessions, traditional Dagomba drums and dances and motor riding skits to the excitement to the charged crowd.
It was also a ‘cocoa season’ for persons who sold NDC paraphernalia and operators of pragya tricycles – the predominant transport means in the Tamale metropolis – were not left out of the business opportunities presented as they cashed in on the occasion.
At about 1pm, the park was packed to the rafters awaiting the arrival of the former President and his running mate, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, and national executives of the party with a tight security of police and a few military men on the ground.
The streets leading to the park were clogged with human and vehicular traffic as the multitudes made their way to the park.
As protocol demands, senior national executives, starting with Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, National Chairman and the all-white-wearing Professor Naana Jane Opoku- Agyemang, running mate to the flagbearer arrived before the former President.
When the flagbearer and former President, John Dramani Mahama arrived at about 2:40 pm, the noise decibels from vuvuzelas and whistles went a notch higher as the security had a tough time to shepherd the convoy through the thick crowd.
For a distance of about 50 meters from the entrance to the park and the daise, it took nearly ten minutes for the car to meander its way through.
Wearing a brown khaki trousers and a white shirt with the inscription ‘John Mahama’ at the left breast pocket side, the former President arrived to a rousing welcome with his wife, Lordina, for the takeoff of the highly patronised launch which lasted nearly three hours.
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, TAMALE